We propose to organize a meeting entitled Tissue engineering - the next generation, to be held May 2-4 2005 in Cambridge MA (2.5 days, Hotel Marriot at Kendall Square). Our proposal is motivated by the growing need to identify the scientific and technological gaps between the fields of developmental biology and tissue engineering in order to guide or define the next generation of scientific inquiry in the field and thereby facilitate the development of new treatment options that can substantially improve human health. Our goals are (1) To rethink where the science and clinical application of tissue engineering needs to go in the coming years, (2) To identify the needs and directions in key areas (cell sources, biophysical signaling, scaffolds and bioreactor cultivation, pre/clinical studies), (3) To document these needs as a guide to the NIH for future initiatives as well as disseminate the information to the broader scientific community via a cohesive publishable format, and (4) To enhance national and international interactions in the field of tissue engineering via information exchange at and after the meeting. To meet these goals we propose a workshop format with one keynote lecture (Robert Langer: Tissue engineering 2020), a set of coordinated sessions focused on questions we will attempt to address (e.g., engineering complex and self-repairing tissues, tissue vascularization, biological inputs into functional tissue engineering, biophysical regulation of stem cell fate and tissue assembly), and a set of related panel discussions. We have invited about 50 leaders in the field from academia, industry, and NIH, from the US and abroad, and we have received an unanimously enthusiastic response about their participation and willingness to work towards the goals of the workshop. Conference co-chairs (Drs Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic from MIT and David Kaplan from Tufts University) will be responsible for the detailed planning and organization of the meeting, and coordination of the individual talks, sessions, and panels towards the preparation of the final document (summary and recommendations) and the proceedings (published in Tissue Engineering journal). The workshop will be open free of charge to young investigators (graduate students, post docs, residents). We will work with the invited faculty so that we can develop the best possible plan for the workshop, take advantage of the collective expertise of all participants and maximize the impact and dissemination of the workshop outputs.